The present invention relates to an apparatus for securing containers on transport vehicles, especially ships, comprising a connecting device, a first end of which is connectable to said containers, and a clamping device a first end of which is equipped with a longitudinally adjustable threaded spindle and connectable to said transport vehicle and a second end of which comprises a number of fastening stops with which a second end of said clamping device is connectable to said connecting device in suitably chosen increments.
A securing apparatus as described above is known from the German document DE-Gbm 88 07 164. On transport vehicles, such as ocean-going ships, containers are stacked on the deck next to each other and on top of each other. In order to secure them against sliding they are connected to each other and to the deck in a force-locking manner. The first securing apparatus used to fasten the containers on the deck of a ship consisted of rope- or rod-like devices, one end of which was fastened to the corner fitting of the containers and the other end was attached to fastening elements such as eyebolts fixed to the deck of the ship, via conventional, longitudinally adjustable clamping bolts.
However, the loading and securing of containers with the means described above is relatively time consuming, because the adjustment of the length of the connecting device to the distance between the fastening opening at the container and the fastening element at the deck has to be accomplished by turning the spindle of the clamping bolt. This step has to be carried out by several persons at the same time in order to keep the loading time to an acceptable limit.
Several improvements of the known securing apparatus have been suggested. For example, the connecting device is provided with several suitable fastening stops, spaced from each other, which allow for a coarse adjustment of the distance between the fastening opening at the container and the fastening element at the deck. After the coarse adjustment has been achieved, the fastening stops then are engaged, at an end opposite the threaded spindle, at a protrusion which is formed as an end cap of the known clamping device. In the known clamping devices, the threaded spindle is guided in a sliding block, which has a threaded through hole to receive the threaded spindle in a rotating fashion. For the fine adjustment of the clamping device via the interacting threaded spindle, the sliding block, in the form of a spindle nut, is arranged in a slidable manner relative to the direction of the longitudinal axis of the clamping device. The protrusion that receives the fastening stop may freely slide in the direction of the connecting device, which is to be coupled to the clamping device, until the selected fastening stop chosen for the coarse adjustment is positioned far enough behind the protrusion of the clamping device to be engaged and, in a motion that axially extends in the longitudinal direction of the securing apparatus, locked and held behind the protrusion. Subsequently, the final securing of the connection is achieved by turning the threaded spindle of the clamping device, until the sliding block of the clamping device rests at the end of the clamping device that faces away from the connecting device. Further turning of the threaded spindle finally adjusts the distance by shortening the total length of the securing apparatus
A disadvantage of this known securing apparatus is that, for the coarse adjustment of the length of the securing apparatus, the clamping device must be slid onto the selected fastening stop and, in order to catch and lock the fastening stop of the connecting device, the entire clamping device has to be lifted. This requires a lot of strength from the person securing the containers, since the clamping device by itself has a considerable weight. In addition, the lifting of the entire clamping device bears the risk of injuring the operator, because the securing apparatus parts may slide apart. It is also disadvantageous, that the sliding block, formed as a spindle nut and slidable in a longitudinal direction, must run very precisely in suitable guides of the clamping device in order to have the thread of the threaded spindle axially aligned to the clamping device at all times. The construction and manufacture of such guide elements is labor intensive and difficult. Therefore, the clamping devices of the known securing apparatus are rather costly.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a securing apparatus which handles easily without the risk of causing injury, thereby saving personnel during the loading operation of the containers, and which may be manufactured at low cost.